The Band of Misfits
by Once Was AHR
Summary: Its Harrys 6th year and something has gone horribly wrong. Dumbledore never took Harry to see Slughorn, and the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher seems to have everyone under her spell. It will take a rag tag bunch of misfits to end her reign
1. Chapter 1

**Well this is my first Harry Potter fan fiction. I would like to thank my beta reader Marjolein222 who is made of awesome, and all of the insane authors out there who provided the inspiration for this fan fiction!**

The Great Hall was abuzz with the first feast of the year. However, the excitement was lukewarm. Last year Voldemort had risen, or at least, the Ministry finally accepted the fact he had risen, and mass murderer Sirius Black had been proven innocent, post mortem. Now Harry Potter, once called the nutcase by most of the Wizarding World, was now dubbed the Chosen One.

So, needless to say Harry Potter was experiencing the pain of most of the great hall staring at him and whispering secrets of some sort. It had been bad enough last year when everyone had thought he was barking mad. Now it seemed as if he had become some sort of celebrity. Harry almost missed it when everyone ignored him.

"Cheer up Harry" Ron said. "Least now they don't hate you!"

Harry gave a noncommittal noise as a response. For the moment, his eyes were on the headmaster. Professor Albus Dumbledore looked exactly the same as always, if slightly leaner, but he still had that knowing smile and twinkling eyes. This was Dumbledore. One of the adults Harry trusted the most. So why did he feel so angry with this old man?

Why had this old man sent him a letter, saying that he would arrive at Privet Drive on Friday to escort him to the Burrow, only to never show up? Harry had to spend the rest of the summer listening to the Dursleys complain about whatever unlucky neighbor had made the poor choice to wear paisley and plaid together. It wasn't until a week away from the start of school when Mr. Weasley (much to the horror of Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon) arrived, flustered and worried. He didn't stop apologizing to Harry until Molly had torn him away to feed his undernourished body.

For the first time since his errr…_incident_ with Dumbledore last year, Harry finally saw him. Yet Dumbledore showed him no recognition. No glimmer of apology or anything to show he was sorry. His stomach did a horrible flip-flop as he briefly remembered that last year Dumbledore had refused to make eye contact with him because he was afraid that Voldemort would realize how close they were.

But Harrys' scar had barely hurt all year. Surely Dumbledore wasn't still worried about that was he? No…

Harrys' eyes traveled to a familiar empty chair in the staff table. Like always, the Defense Against the Dark Arts position was empty yet again, and it appeared as if no one had chosen to fill it this year. Snape, as always, looked particularly sour for once again losing his much sought out for spot. Was it just his imagination or did Snape look even more annoyed then he normally did…?

All of a sudden Dumbledore stood up to undoubtedly say the beginning of the year speech. He raised his right hand with a goblet in it. He smiled warmly at the entire student body, but Harry couldn't help but notice he didn't, not once look at the Gryffindor table. Come to think of it, not even Hagrid had showed him any recognition. Not that Harry was too interested in confronting Hagrid anytime soon. Harry had decided not to continue with Care of Magical Creatures, and the last thing he wanted to do was break the news to Hagrid.

"I would first like to welcome the new students, and I hope we can all have a wonderful year!" Dumbledores voice was worn, but it rang clearly throughout the hall. It seemed slightly different to Harry though. Maybe a bit higher pitched. Maybe Dumbledore just had a cold, or Harry was being horribly paranoid.

"Now, in the most ahh, unfortunate situation, Dolores Umbridge has resigned from her position has Defense against the Dark Arts teacher." (Here an unchallenged cheer rang throughout the hall. Even some of the teachers joined in) "Now, I would like to introduce our new Defense against the Arts teacher. Lady Serenity Isabella Maria Raven Capulet!"

The hall doors opened, and everyone craned their necks to see their new teacher.

She had porcelain skin, and startlingly gold eyes, that seemed to hold the deepest darkest secrets of the ocean. She had midnight black hair that flowed down to her waist. She wore very odd wizarding robes. They almost resembled muggle clothing. Which of course would be ridiculous, since it was clear she was not a muggle. The clothes she wore showed off her somehow perfect figure, yet did not denounce her purity in the slightest. She was obviously quite young. Most likely only twenty five or so.

"Thank you Albus" She said in the most musical voice Harry had ever heard. She went and sat down in her seat, and much too every ones' surprise she was followed by an animal. It resembled a cat, only it was pure white with green eyes, and it had wings that had pink fringes.

"Oh, and her familiar, Aphrodite!" Dumbledore said quickly, motioning to the cat.

Harry blinked a couple of times, and was surprised to see his glasses her fogging up. She was…beautiful. She was…the center of his universe. Harry was surprised in himself to find he loved her with all of his heart. Was this why Dumbledore never came for him? Not that it mattered anymore, now all that mattered was how to get Serenitys attention.

He saw that most of the other males were staring at her in the same awe struck reaction, and he knew they were all thinking the same thing. Fools, as if they stood a chance.

He saw that Hermione was awe struck to. "Shes' amazing" Hermione said quietly. "I want to be exactly like her…"

**XxXxX**

Eloise Midgeon of Hufflepuff silently groaned. She looked at their new teacher through her oversized glasses with much disdain. What was everyone getting so worked about? This new teacher was much too skinny. She looked practically like a ghost. Not to mention it did not suit her proportions in the slightest. She also practically looked like, well frankly, a slut.

Not that really one else thought this. Ernie and Justin were drooling as if they had suddenly been turned into lapdogs. Cedric Diggory was practically jumping over the table to court her or something. Hannah and Susan were giggling to each other wondering if they should try and ask where she got her clothes.

It all made Eloise rather sick.

Wait. WAIT! WHAT?!?!?! What was Cedric Diggory was doing here? He was supposed to be _dead_! Eloise felt her heart come to a complete stop as she stared at the once dead Hufflepuff champion. No…oh no…there was no way that this could possibly have happened…

But in that instant, he was gone. As if he was never there in the first place. It must have been her imagination. Clearly. She was just being silly. Although why she would be seeing Cedric Diggory was beyond her. She never liked Diggory. He had good looks and all the girls falling head over heels for him. It really caused her to lose hope in humanity.

Although, Eloise had to admit, it was probably due to the fact no boy would look at her twice that she had such a cynical view on this whole thing. She had glasses that clashed horribly with her face, and acne that would scare a puppy away. Of course, this was after most of her acne cleared up. Before, she looked a bit like an oddly shaped tomato. She had sandy brown hair which reached her shoulders that no matter how many times she washed it remained greasy. She also had some baby fat left, which gave her a slightly rounded appearance.

"What's the big deal with this teacher anyway?" She muttered under her breath in annoyance. The students surrounding her suddenly stared at her as if she had contracted the plague.

"She's amazing Midgeon!" Zacharias said in a shocked voice.

"Just because you're jealous doesn't mean you have to be so cruel!" Susan said angrily.

"That's low, even for you." Ernie said in his typically pompous voice.

Eloise turned a bright pink. She wasn't used to being attacked so suddenly liked this. Usually anyone who knew her accepted the fact she was an incurable pessimist and moved on. She hadn't been expecting such a vicious onslaught of insults. They've seen this teacher for roughly five seconds and already they were ready to defend her to the death?

Something wasn't right here.

Not right at all.

Feeling a bit disgusted in the entire events, she left the hall early to get some must need rest in her dorm. After all, this was her NEWTS year. She needed some alone time to figure out what to do. She had done barely average in her OWLS. She would be taking Charms and Herbology most likely, but Transfiguration and Potions were out of the question. She didn't know what grades Lady Serenity was accepting for her class, but something told Eloise that even if she got accepted into that class, there was no way she was learning from that…_thing_.

She saw two Ravenclaws' huddled together talking nervously. One had dirty blonde hair and…radish earrings? The other was normal, except she had some acne tinted purple, that seemed to almost be arranged as a word on her face.

"Couldn't stand the new teacher either?" The purple acne girl muttered at Eloise.

Eloise nodded briefly. The girl with radish earrings smiled dreamily. "Ooh that's good. It will be so great to talk to someone else about this. After all if the Derailed Mayders are going to be defeated we will need more people!"

"Derailed… what now?" Eloise asked in confusion, completely drawing a blank.

"Ignore her." The girl with the purple acne said in an embarrassed voice. "I'm Marietta Edgecomb. Seventh year. This is Loony…I mean _Luna _Lovegood. Fifth year"

Marietta? The name stirred up a vague memory. Something about Susan…she had been ranting about a Marietta last year. Something about DA. Whatever that was.

"Eloise Midgeon. Sixth year"

Marietta nodded with a small smile. "Well, it was nice to meet you. For some reason Cho and everyone else are practically in love with our new teacher. It's kind of creepy."

Eloise nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Yeah it is." And with that, she left. She didn't want to appear rude or anything, but it was all a bit odd to suddenly be talking with two Ravenclaws who she hadn't even known existed until a minute or so ago.

She trudged back to her dorm and collapsed on her old bed. Something told her this was not going to be a normal year.

**XxXxX**

A couple of weeks trudged on without much hassle. Luckily Eloise didn't have to take DADA so there were soon times when she forgot entirely about Lady Serenity. Sure, everyone was fawning over Lady Serenity, but Eloise had gotten used to it and moved on. She had settled for yet another breakfast filled with everyone talking about how they wished they had more DADA homework. Idiots.

She had talked to the two Ravenclaws here and there, but never went out of her way. This whole thing was blown out of proportion anyway. She was just a stupid teacher. It would all blow over eventually.

"Attention, I would like to make an announcement." Dumbledore said, standing up.

"I, Albus Dumbledore, am resigning from the post of headmaster of this school."

Chaos broke out. What? Dumbledore resigning? Why? How? WHY?!?! Dumbledore waited for the worst of the yells to subside before continuing.

"I am giving up my position, to someone who is clearly better suited for the job. Lady Serenity Isabella Maria Raven Capulet!"

Wild cheers replaced the cries of horror. The color slowly drained out of Eloises' face. This was impossible. How could this be happening?

Lady Serenity stood up and her cat purred happily. "Thank you Albus. I already have plenty of plans to reinstate Hogwarts to its former glory!"

More wild cheers.

"First, The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher will be Sirius Black!"

Hysterical cheers of happiness. Wasn't Sirius supposed to be dead? But this didn't stop from the hall doors to open revealing a very handsome Sirius Black who was clearly not dead.

"Professor Binns will be replaced with Remus Lupin!"

She was bringing back the werewolf? Eloise had nothing against Professor Lupin. She had learned a lot, but she had been absolutely terrified when the news had been revealed.

"There will be a new dress code! So everyone will be able to dress as gorgeously as me!"

The girls particularly got riled up. They would finally be able to look as gorgeous as the amazing Lady Serenity!

"Co-ed Dorms! Four dances a year! And an Owl dating service!"

Mob psychology took over, and the entire hall screamed in excitement. Anyone who had somehow resisted the charms of the new Headmistress found themselves somehow cheering along as well.

"Finally, yours truly will be the matchmaker for the owl dating service! I will also be looking for a soul mate of my very own!"

All the males, teachers and students alike stood up and cheered, clapping their hands furiously. They had a chance to be with her! They had the chance! All the others were just opponents.

Eloise paled, and took a swig of pumpkin juice to calm herself down. This couldn't be happening. No, it couldn't be happening.

The owls swooped down to give their owners mail, as was custom, and eventually, the hall quieted down as students and teachers alike read their mail.

Eloise had never gotten an owl, so she didn't expect any mail. It surprised, her, to see a spotted owl fly over to her. It hadn't come down from the rafters, but had flown from one of the other tables. The owl had a note tied to her leg, and Eloise hesitantly untied it.

It was written in small neat handwriting:

_Eloise_

_Desperate times call for desperate measures. Remember you are not alone. If you want a place free of you-know-who walk past the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy three times._

_Marietta and Luna_

Eloise memorized the instructions, and then tore up the letter so no one else could read it. She didn't need to be in some secret club. She would be fine. But, it really couldn't hurt to give it a try right?

The spotted owl was clearly not going away, so Eloise took out her quill and ink and hastily scribbled a _yes_ onto a crumpled piece of parchment and gave it back to the owl. It flew to the Ravenclaw table, and once the two Ravenclaws read the one worded response, they beamed at her happily.

Eloise clenched her fists together. What was this all leading to? She didn't like this one bit. Eloise pushed up her glasses and drank some more pumpkin juice. She had to keep her head in this situation. Merlin knows everyone else had lost it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Many thanks to the good dr. for my one and only review ^^. As of yet this is an unbetaed chapter, so I apologize if it has any major problemos. Hopefully I'll be able to edit a bit in a short time.**

**All characters except for Lady Serenity are completely within canon. If you don't believe me, look them up on the Harry Potter Lexicon. If I do make another OC I will let you know, but if there is nothing up here, then that person is in the canon HPverse. I might take certain liberties on their looks, personalities, heritage, or beliefs, but they do exist as a name.**

Barnabas the Barmy was an incredibly creepy tapestry that depicted some batty wizard attempting to teach _trolls_ how to dance _ballet_.

…

For the fifth time on the seventh floor, Eloise had walked past this incredible act of stupidity. Unfortunately, with absolutely nothing happening, Eloise suspected she might be being taken for a ride. After all, that note had said to walk by it three times, and as Eloise walked passed it for her sixth time with no difference on either side of the wall, her suspicions were being confirmed.

This whole thing was incredibly farfetched anyway. Two random Ravenclaws send her a letter involving their all-too-perfect new headmistress, and she was supposed to believe them just like that?

No. This whole thing was a pile of dragons' dung. Lana or whatever her name was and that Mary girl were probably laughing at her from some safe distance. With. Out. A. Doubt.

"What are you doing?"

Eloise whirled around to come face to face with some Gryffindor. The Gryffindor had light brown hair tied neatly into two straight braids, her complexion was completely clear (Eloise noted only slightly enviously) and she had stunningly pretty blue eyes. She looked young, most likely a first or second year. "Nothing. Nothing at all, why do you ask?" Eloise asked turning a bit red. She must look like an absolute fool…

"Oh…then…could you…could you leave? Please?" The small Gryffindor teetered nervously craning her neck, as if she was afraid some giant monster would rear its head from the shadows and bite her head off at any second.

"Two batty Ravenclaws didn't tell you to come here did they?" Eloise asked suspiciously.

The girl shook her head vigorously. "No. I—uh…well…" She seemed a bit unnaturally timid, and had an almost deathly glow to her. Clearly, she needed to get some sun.

She glanced longingly at the wall across from the tapestry. "Please…" she pleaded in a mortified whisper. "Please…just…go…I…I don't want to get in trouble…"

"Oi, oi, what's going on here?" came a voice from directly behind them. This voice came from a Slytherin who was much older than the timid Gryffindor.

The Gryffindor looked as if Christmas had come early. "Astoria, she…she won't leave, and I'm scared she might…she might be…" She trailed off.

Astoria walked up to Eloise. Astoria had black wavy hair cut shoulder length and dark brown eyes. Astoria narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing here?" She asked suspiciously.

Eloise shrugged. "If I could tell you, I would. Two loons from Ravenclaw told me something about walking past this tapestry three times, and being the gullible idiot I am, I listened to them."

Astoria brightened. "Luna?" She asked. "You must be Eloise then right?"

Eloise took a step back from shock. "She…what…do I know you?"

Astoria rolled her eyes. "Astoria Greengrass. Fourth year. This is Natalie Macdonald." She said, motioning to the Gryffindor. "Third year."

Eloise stifled a snort. She would have never guessed that this Gryffindor-Natalie- was thirteen. She barely looked eleven.

Astoria began to walk past the tapestry. "C'mon Midgeon. Follow me."

Two more times they walked past the tapestry. Eloise had stopped believing any of this long ago. This had to be all some sort of sick joke. Some incredibly sick joke.

But, as they walked past it for the third time, Eloise let out an involuntary gasp. There, directly across the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy, was a door, that was definitely not there before.

Astoria opened the door, and Eloise dumbly walked in without a words protest.

It was unnaturally large for a room in Hogwarts. It was decorated with the banners of the four houses, and the walls were positively stacked with books. In the corner there was a glass case with a weird stone basin. The center of the room featured a slight incline that had multiple plush chairs and tables.

"What…the…" Eloise stuttered, at a loss for words.

"Eloise!" Came a voice, and Eloise saw Marietta and Luna eagerly coming towards her.

Luna smiled dreamily. "I was worried that Aphrodite had gotten to you. She does have the power of the Vampire Head an-"

"Ah shut it Luna" Marietta grumbled momentarily before catching herself. "Sorry, force of habit."

Luna shrugged it off as if she hadn't even heard it. Eloise was momentarily impressed. What gave Luna such an ability to not even be vaguely annoyed at that? Eloise knew that if someone had told her to shut up in such a tone, she would at least make sure to bare a healthy grudge at that person for a good week or so.

"So, where…are we, exactly?" Eloise asked, once the novelty of the situation began to wear out.

Marietta blushed slightly, as if the whole situation had a bigger problem. "The…the Room of Requirement."

Astoria nodded. "We are trying to find anyone not totally in love with the she-warlock."

Eloise looked around. It was largely Ravenclaws. But Eloise recognized Rose Zellers, Laura Madley, and Megan Jones from her house. From what she could tell, Natalie and Astoria were the only two from Gryffindor and Slytherin respectively.

But, much more largely, there were no boys. Only girls. It at first struck Eloise as odd, until she realized that most of the boys were probably drooling over the new Headmistress. Scratch that. ALL of the boys.

"So, then what do you do here normally?" Eloise asked, curiosity getting the best of her.

"Well, most of us want to actually learn our subjects." Mandy Brockelhurst piped up waving her Charms book to emphasize it.

Eloise could understand that. Lately, none of the teachers had been teaching them anything. Classes now served as a place to gossip, or get fanservice.

"Although, it's mostly just a place we can talk freely. I think you've noticed by now that if you speak badly about Serenity, people tend to get…aggravated?" Marietta interjected.

Eloise nodded in agreement, but she couldn't but help to feel a bit disappointed. She didn't know what she had been expecting, but something like a full scale rebellion seemed to be more along the lines of her thought process. This…This was just a social group to be entirely honest.

Just a social group. Eloise detested that sort of thing. It reminded her of her fourth year back during the Yule ball how everyone had literally formed packs in attempts to ask out that one particular boy or girl they liked. It was all sickening. Even Eloise herself had gotten caught up in it and had attempted to charm off her acne-

Unfortunately, she had blasted most of her nose off instead and need to be sent to the hospital wing. She had ended up missing the Yule Ball, but Eloise had grown up a lot because of that incident. Starting with the promise to never get involved in any social group or social event unless she wanted major disasters to occur.

Astoria sighed. "Well, I'm gonna play a game of Exploding Snap if anyone wants to join me."

Natalie gave a quick nod of agreement, and it quieted down, as everyone settled to engage in various activities.

For the first time in her life, Eloise really, really wished there were some boneheaded Gryffindors around.

**A couple of Days later…**

"So, what do you think Harry? If Sirius is your god father, and he is alive again, and he is the teacher of Defense of Dark Arts, do you think that you could get him to let me retake the test?"

Harry snapped out of his daze, to return his full attention to Neville. "Err, sure, Neville, I'll, I'll ask him about that."

Neville smiled happily and his roundish fat face lit up. "Really Harry? Gee, that's great! You're the best!"

Harry momentarily let his hand trail to his scar, before sighing, and retreated back to his dinner in the Grand Hall.

"Sumtin' wrong 'Arry?" Ron asked amidst his chewing.

"The Dating Service results are here today. Lady Serenity picks her one true love, and pairs everyone else up as well." Harry said wistfully, looking at Ron with his deep green eyes.

Ron sighed for a moment, almost regretfully. "Yeah, yeah it is."

Harry frowned. "What's wrong Ron?"

Ron looked mournfully at Harry as he swallowed the last of his food. "Well, at least you have a CHANCE with her. I mean, you're Harry Potter. The Chosen one. I'm Ron Weasley. The lousy Sidekick."

Harry groaned. "Ron, c'mon mate, she's a decade older than me or something. She'll probably choose Sirius or something." This was a complete lie of course. But Ron didn't need to know that. Harry would just have to act surprised when Lady Serenity picked _him_.

" 'Sides Ron, you'll be paired with another girl, and everything will work out." Seamus pointed out.

"Yeah, there has to be someone you would like" Dean interjected.

"Especially since the uniform change" Seamus cackled.

Most of the girls had accepted the uniform change with enthusiasm. It had done wonders to their appearance. Harry found himself unable to keep his eyes off of them. Lady Serenity was truly a genius. He honestly had no idea that girls had such long legs…

Ron mumbled something incoherent, and went back to eating his food. Ron actually had a pretty clear idea of who he would like to be paired up with. Not that he would admit it to anyone. He barely admitted to _himself_, let alone his fellow dorm mates. Somewhere, in the deep crevices of his head, it was astoundingly clear who he would like to be with.

Normally, such thoughts would have been pushed aside and ignored, but in the new environment set up by Lady Serenity, (not just the clothing mind you, simply the fact that she practically oozed romance from her every pore) it had flourished prematurely, and had over taken Ron like a landslide. Hermione. Granger.

Ron couldn't help but feel a bit more confident in these terms. After all, Hermione was no Lady Serenity- he didn't have to worry about any chosen ones butting in dramatically.

Yep. Everything would work out all right. Somehow.

Halfway across the Grand hall, Astoria was having a mental breakdown.

She hadn't meant to, it had almost slipped out. No, that wasn't true, some part of her had trusted him, and now she just knew she would pay the price. Of course, he hadn't done anything yet. Yet being the key word.

Astoria Greengrass had told someone about the room of requirement. She had told a _boy_ about the room of requirement. She felt like such an idiot.

No. She had to relax. Just because every other boy was in some sort of sick love trance with the new headmistress, didn't mean that Blaise Zabini was in that same sick love trance.

Who was she kidding? Of course he was! Of course he was! He was a guy! Well, there was the small possibility he wasn't attracted to girls. But Astoria highly doubted that, call it intuition, but when one caught the same guy drooling over the new miniskirts like every other boy in Hogwarts, it was pretty logical to assume he had the exact same tastes.

Speaking of miniskirts, those new uniforms were the devil incarnate if she had ever seen one. Luckily, they weren't mandatory (yet), so while she saved herself from dressing skimpily, nothing could save her eyes.

Her, poor, poor, eyes. Those outfits were never meant to be worn by womankind, unless you were ungodly disproportional.

At the moment, Blaise was in some discussion with Draco Malfoy. Malfoy was cute in some aspects, but he honestly, he needed to learn to eat once in a while. He was also apparently a Death Eater or something, or at least that's what the rumor mill said. She didn't believe it though. He didn't seem tough enough frankly speaking. Astoria saw no problem with muggle borns. Sure, they were bloody ignorant and way to easily fascinated by any picture that moved, but it was a pretty large leap between 'being annoyed with them' and 'killing them all'.

After all, Natalie was a muggle born, and despite constantly looking like she was going to be run over by a hippogriff (Honestly, how did that girl end up in Gryffindor?) she was nice enough, and a whiz at exploding snap.

"Attention! Attention! Quiet everyone!" Lady Serenity cried out in her sing song voice. Of course, everyone did quiet down immediately. Almost everyone was anxious to find out their one true pairing.

Lady Serenity smiled as her dazzling eyes sparkled with more intensity then Dumbledores ever could. Naturally, after all, Dumbledores twinkle was clouded with manipulation. It was no wonder such a man resigned.

"I am proud to announced the first session of the Owl Dating Service has come to an end." She said cheerfully. Aphrodite purred in agreement.

"First, I would like to announce who I, Lady Serenity Isabella Maria Raven Capulet, choose Draco Malfoy as my one true love!"

The Slytherin table clapped uproariously and eventually the other three tables joined in as well. Many of them did not know who this 'Draco Malfoy' character was, and those who did, knew him only as the Slytherin Seeker.

Draco stood up graciously and accepted his chair next to Lady Serenity without hesitation. The smug grin was quite apparent.

"Next, I would like to say Harry Potter, The Chosen One, shall be with Hermione Granger!"

More general applause, as the big part was over. It was a bit anti-climactic, to have the main bachelorette gone in the first couple of minutes, and some could say poorly planned, but no one complained.

"Cedric Diggory with Cho Chang!"

There were more names paired together, and many people attempted to see a pattern, but there was none. At first the students assumed friendship was the key to the pairings, but that was thrown out once Lavender Brown was paired up with Theodore Nott. Most of the students finally assumed that it was merely destiny, and one shouldn't really be questioning Lady Serenitys' all powerful reasoning.

Finally, the announcement came to an end. Everyone settled down to eat, or escape with their newly declared true loves to a more private area.

But, some names were not called. Ron and Ginny Weasleys' name were not called for one. Neither were Colin Creevey or Anthony Goldstein for that matter.

However, that night, Ron wasn't thinking about his sister, or anyone else who hadn't been mentioned. All he was thinking about was how cruel fate was. It wasn't fair. How had Harry gotten Hermione? He was supposed to end up with Cho Chang, or maybe Parvati. Not Hermione. Anyone but Hermione.

Of course, Hermione had been absolutely thrilled. She had beamed when their names were called, and she immediately planted a kiss on Harry. It absolutely horrified him in some way. Any possibility that might have been there, was gone. Forever.

Harry couldn't have been more oblivious from the death glares he was receiving. He was humming some sort of tuneless song, and had a lopsided grin on his face.

"Hey uh…Harry?" Ron asked sheepishly.

Harry blinked. "Yeah Ron? What?" He asked in a confused voice. It sounded a bit odd, but Ron couldn't pinpoint the reason. Maybe he had a cold.

"I was…I was just wondering why you're so happy about being with Hermione. I mean, didn't you want Lady Serenity?" Ron said with gritted teeth. He clenched his bed post in order to stop himself from doing anything impulsive. Luckily, Seamus and Dean were somewhere else with Padma and Parvati. Neville hadn't signed up last time, so he was busy filling out his form for the next Owl Dating Service. With Harry being in some sort of odd state of obliviousness, no one took the time to look at Rons awkward position.

Harry shrugged. "Yeah, I did, but hey, Hermione is still amazing. I mean, if I didn't get here, who knows who she might have been paired with? She could have been paired with _you_ for gods sake!" He said, nearly laughing at his final sentence, as if it was some sick punch line.

Ron blinked. He must have misheard Harry. Or, something like that. From where he was standing, it almost sounded like Harry was saying that he and Hermione would have been a disaster.

"And…why…would you say that Harry?" He asked in a raspy voice, fairly sure he had forgotten to breathe by now.

Harry snickered. "Well think about it Ronnie. I'm the Chosen One. You're some perverted redneck who just uses everyone else to get what you want." Harry said, as if simply stating fact.

Ron paled. He felt his jaw drop, and gaped at Harry. "What the bloody hell is your problem?" He hissed, trying not to shout. Bloody Hell. Strange, he rarely used that word before, but it had a nice ring to it…

Harry laughed some more. "Wait, you actually thought you had a chance with her didn't you? Oh, this is precious. Ickle Ronniekins actually thought he could get a _girl_ to like him. Don't be so delusional Weasley. I swear, sometimes it's like an anvil hit your head or something you're so stupid. Do you honestly think that Hermione could ever- no scratch that- _any girl_ would ever even think of liking such a despicable git like-"

Harry would have continued. He really would have. He would have gone on to mention the only not worthless members of his family were Fred and George, and he was a spoiled brat. But he never got the chance. The last thing he saw was a fist coming towards him at impossible speeds. The fist hit him square in the nose, and everything went black.

Neville immediately heard the commotion and widened his eyes in fear as he saw the scene. "Ron…how…how could you? Don't you have any heart at all?" He asked in dumbstruck horror.

Ron gawked at him. "Me? Harry…he…he…started it! He was…"

Neville narrowed his eyes. "Yeah I heard him. I can't believe you. He was trying to be nice Ron! God, is the truth so hard to hear?" He kneeled down next to the unconscious body of Harry. "It's ok Harry, I'll get the headmistress, and everything will be ok, and that good for nothing bastard will get what's coming to him."

Ron didn't do anything. It was like his insides had frozen and icicles had pinned him to the ground. Even as Neville yelled for help, he didn't try to run away. Even when Lady Serenity showed up in a furious blaze of fire, Ron couldn't find the strength in him to run. It didn't matter, though. Even if he could run, he couldn't hide. Not from the all powerful Headmistress Capulet.

**To Be Continued**


End file.
